By Isle of Wight Observer
Readership of Newsquest’s Isle of Wight County Press (IWCP) continues to fall.
Figures released on Monday by industry-owned auditor, ABC, revealed that the average weekly circulation of the County Press is now just 10,084, a drop of 13 per cent from last year when it was 11,575. The IW Observer prints 18,500 copies every week and also sends out the full newspaper to more than 4,500 digital subscribers.
The locally-owned IW Observer was launched in August 2018, a year after the IWCP was taken over by Newsquest Media Group, part of giant American publishing group, Gannett. The IWCP was then printing 23,006 copies, meaning the title has lost more than 55 per cent of its readers since the launch of the IW Observer.
Mirroring the fortunes of the respective newspapers, the IW Observer has recently opened the new office in St James’ Square in Newport, with a formal opening to be announced over the next few weeks, while the IWCP offices in Pyle Street are closed to visitors and are up for sale. Both companies compete for local advertising revenue, but the IW Observer focuses entirely on local advertising, while IWCP includes national advertising and extensively promotes other mainland Newsquest brands. It also has a cover price of £1.30, while the IW Observer remains free for its readers.
It seems Islanders prefer local news companies on-line as well. While Newsquest is well-known for concentrating on the digital side of its business, according to the most recent ABC figures for countypress.co.uk (2022), IWCP’s on-line rivals, locally-owned Island Echo, averaged almost 20 per cent more monthly page views.
